Promise me, Ned
by Tizzly
Summary: "Promise me he'll be safe from harm. Please protect him from them. They must not know of him, or he'll not be safe. Promise me, Ned. Please." Lyanna/Rheagar*Jon A one-shot on Jon Snow's parentage; Ned's PoV.


**AN: first try, don't be harsh. Playlist (random order, they all fit) : So Cold - Ben Cocks * Losing your memory - Ryan Star * Wherever you will go - Charlene Soraya**

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_NED_

"Promise me he'll be safe. He needs to be at Winterfell. Raise him Ned. Raise him like one of your own. Promise me. They must never know him. Promise me. Promise me Ned." Lyanna was breathing heavily, clutching the tiny bundle in her arms. "He needs to be hidden from them. He needs to be safe. Promise me. Please, Ned. Promise me." Her breathing was growing desperate. He took the bundle from her arms and looked at the little person.

"I'll promise you, I'll keep him save." He took the bundle in one arm and stroke the face of his sister with his free hand. She was crying.

"Promise me Ned." She clutched his hand with both of hers, a hint of desperation in her eyes. "Promis – " The word was stuck in her throat. The light in her eyes had faded. Her hands were no longer clutching his. Her last tear was drying on her face.

_No. No. She can't be gone. No._ A tear traced down his cheek. Lyanna Stark was gone. She would never return. He put the bundle aside and clutched the lifeless body. Somehow he wished she would start to breathe again. Somehow he wished he could bring her back. But he couldn't.

Suddenly a noise distracted him from his sister's body. He looked up to see the bundle moving. It made squealing noises. It was crying. He picked the bundle up and looked at the little boy. The kid had a little mop of black hair on his head.

"You'll be safe. I promised her, you'll be safe. " He stood up and nursed the little boy until he stopped crying. "It won't be easy. It'll be the hardest thing you've got to face. But I'll love you. Even if I can't show you." The boy looked at Ned with his eyes wide open.

"I'll love you, Jon. I will." Eddard kissed the top of his head. "As if you were my own."

~".;:*:;."~

"No!" Robert screamed. He turned a table upside down and attacked the wall.

"No!" He cried again, shoving another table aside and stumbled till he fell on the ground. The great hall of the Red Keep had grown silent. Nobody dared to say anything. He was screaming now, not believing what Ned just told him.

"No." he breathed at last, all his strength gone. One single tear traced down his face. He looked up to Ned and shook his head for the last time.

But Ned couldn't deny it. He carried her bones to bury them at Winterfell. He carried her son to raise. But he couldn't show them, both. _Promise me, Ned_. He needed them both to be safe.

As Robert sat on the floor, broken, Cersei Lannister came forward and knelt beside him. She put her arms around him, but Robert shoved her away. Hurt flashed across her face. Ned could see a certain hate burning behind her eyes. But she didn't showed it to the others. Instead she just left the hall, her brother following on her heels.

Robert looked up one last time to bore his eyes into Eddard's own. "Please, leave." He hissed and Ned nodded before he turned on his heel to return to Winterfell.

~".;:*:;."~

One look on the child and Catelynn's face hardened. She clutched her own son to her chest, as if he could be infected by Jon. It was the first time Ned saw his firstborn. Robb, she had named him. Robb Stark, heir of Winterfell.

"So you tell me I have to raise him as one of my own?" She spat, her eyes filled with hatred and grief. "He's the grandson of the man that killed your father and brother both. He should be killed." Her voice grew hoarse.

"You will me kill the son of my sister? My own blood?" Ned was appalled by his wife.

"He's a monster. His blood killed my betrothed. Or have you forgotten?" She was shaking now, her anger getting the better of her. "I want him gone. Get him out of my sight."

"I promised her I would raise him like one of my own! He will stay here at Winterfell." Ned decided.

"You promised to raise him like one of your own. He'll never be one of mine. Never." Catelynn rose from the bed and laid her son in the cradle. "He'll never know a mother's love. I can't give him that. I won't. You can raise him however you want. But I will not have any part of it." She looked at Jon one more time and left the room.

Ned was torn. He knew she would say this. Catelynn never bore any love for Lyanna, as she was the reason Brandon died. Brandon. His brother. What would he have done? He would've done what was right. Because he always knew what was right.

Ned took Jon and wandered through Winterfell with the boy in his arms. If Catelynn didn't want to be his mother, she wouldn't be. But Ned would be his father, without a doubt.

"You'll have a hard life. A bastard life. But you'll be safe. Just as I promised her." He looked at the boy, who was asleep. His skin was pale, almost silky white. Much paler than any Stark, but just as pale as any Targaryen. But you could only really see it if you knew his parentage. And nobody would ever know. Because the boy would be Jon Snow, the bastard of Ned Stark.

~".;:*:;."~

"Dad?" A twelve year old Jon Snow stood before his dad. He looked a lot like his mother, besides his oddly pale skin. His eyes were Lyanna's, grey. His hair a slightly lighter shade than his mother's. Eddard looked up to his son and smiled. He had kept his promise. He had always loved Jon, as much as he loved his mother.

"Why don't I have a mother, like Robb does?" The boy was seeking answers to questions he shouldn't ask. Ned knew he would eventually began to ask, but he was always avoiding the subject.

"Why don't you sit down with me, son." Jon took a chair and avoided his father's gaze. The boy had grown up as Ned's bastard, though he only shared his eyes and his hair colour. And even those were different. Robb had become so close to him they seemed twins now. Arya, Ned's youngest daughter, had grown fond of Jon as well. It was hard for Ned to show Jon some love, since Catelynn despised the boy. She hated him, because he was alive and Brandon was dead. Because he's a dragon. Because she had to lie for him.

"Just tell me. I'm old enough. I can take it." Jon sat up straight and looked his father in the eye. "Doesn't she love me? Have I wronged her?" Ned shook his head, but he couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say.

"Jon, your mother loves you. She really does." He finally managed to say. Jon looked confused, he didn't understand.

"Then why can't I see her? Does she know I'm alive?" The boy reminded Eddard so much of his sister, it hurt. Not only did he look like Lyanna, he acted like her. He was just as stubborn as her, just as loyal, just as sturdy. And he reminded Ned of the young dragon. Rheagar had been a fair knight, smart and even wise. Jon was just as quick of wit as Rheagar once had been.

"I'll promise you, she really loves you. More than I do." Ned said, but it didn't satisfied the boy. He opened his mouth to reply, but Ned cut him off.

"We'll talk about your mother on your sixteenth name day. I'll tell you everything about her. I'll even describe the scent of her hair, if I must. But till that day, you mustn't ask questions about her. You know how much it hurts Lady Catelynn when she hears you asked about you mother again." He patted his son's shoulder.

"Promise me. Promise me you'll tell me about her. Promise me." _Promise me Ned._

"I promise."

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**AN: My very first GoT fanfiction. I've been in love with the series and still. I adore the books.**

**This is my opinion on Jon Snow's parentage. It will stay a one - shot, though it gives me enough space to write more. So.. stay tuned. Give it some love by reviewing it. 3**


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